El pensamiento y obra pionera de Nicolás León en la antropología física mexicana

Abstract

The intellectual contributions of Nicolás León to physical anthropology, that have been overlooked in his historiographic bibliography, are the purpose of this paper. We review his ideas on the origin of mankind, of the peopling of the New World, and the biological variability of the indian populations of Mexico. We also try to elucidate how the way of thinking and the social atmosphere of his times influenced him. We conclude that he was a real pioneer of Mexican physical anthropology.